1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device and a control method therefor, and relates more particularly to an electronic device that can use a recording medium with a wireless communication capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor memory cards are commonly used as a recording medium in digital cameras and other image capture apparatuses to store captured image data. To transfer the recorded image data to an external device such as a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as “PC”), a printer or television, the digital interfaces of the digital camera and the external device are usually connected by a cable. See, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-223710.
When transferring data between a digital camera and external device, data is conventionally exchanged according to a predetermined communication protocol over a cable or other physical communication path.
The PTP (Picture Transfer Protocol), which is standardized as a USB still image capture device class, and protocols defined as mass storage device classes, are commonly used as protocols for transferring data between PCs and digital cameras.
When a digital camera is connected to a Windows® or Mac OS® PC that supports the PTP at the OS level, the PC recognizes the connected device as a digital camera. This enables operations such as automatically launching a data transfer application and starting data transfer, simplifying operation for the user and improving convenience.
The PictBridge standard defining procedures enabling directly connecting a digital camera to a printer and printing directly from the camera has also been proposed. Because the PictBridge standard also uses the PTP for communication between devices, the user can operate the digital camera in the same way whether the external device to which the digital camera is connected is a PC or a printer as long as the digital camera supports the PTP communications.
Memory cards having a wireless communication capability so that image data can be easily transferred from a digital camera to an external device are also available these days. When such memory cards are attached and used in a digital camera, image data can be automatically transferred to an external device that is capable of wireless communication, and there is no need for the user to connect a cable or assert a clear transfer command.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2011-128910 discloses a digital camera that improves operability for the user by enabling a setting of the wireless communication capability when a memory card with a wireless communication capability is attached.
If a memory card with a wireless communication capability is compatible with multiple communication protocols, the memory card can connect to a wider range of devices and more applications are conceivable. However, ease of use is not good if the user must select the communication protocol required to connect to a desired device.